Minolta
Company Minolta was a japanese company manufacturing cameras from 1931 to 2003. They produced cameras for several film formats, even for their own 16mm miniature film format. In the 1950s Minolta expanded its businesses beyond production of cameras and binoculars. Most branches of the company were related to optics, like the copiers branch, the exposure meters branch, etc. Minolta was succeeded by Konica Minolta. History http://static.flickr.com/52/131984802_963f6af8b8.jpg Minolta, although once counted among the big five, has often been thought of as a second-rung camera manufacturer in the photography world, a step below Nikon and Canon. This has not always been the case. For five years beginning in 1985 Minolta was the biggest seller of SLR cameras in the world. The reason for this dominance was the release of their Maxxum/Dynax system; the world's first 'in body' Autofocus SLR. Before this time manufacturers had dabbled with lenses that focused themselves but that fitted to their existing, manual focus SLR cameras. Minolta was the first manufacturer to put the mechanism and electronics for the autofocus system into their SLR camera bodies and so the modern SLR was born. This huge success was not foreseeable when Kazuo Tashima founded his Japanese-German camera shop in 1928 (called Nichidoku). In 1931 this was transformed into a stock corporation named "MOLTA", soon renamed to "MINOLTA", an abbreviation for the sentence "M'_echanism, '''IN'_struments, 'O'_ptics and 'L'_enses from 'TA'_shima". From 1937 to 1961 the company name and brand name were different, the brand name was MINOLTA, but the company name CHIYODA KOGAKU, or abbreviated CHIYOKO. Kazuo Tashima got support from the German camera technicians Billy Neumann and Willy Heilemann (see Neumann & Heilemann). The first cameras of Molta needed parts and lenses from German manufacturers. In 1929 they had already managed to produce the first models of their "Nifcalette" camera series. In 1934 the "Minolta-Best" was the first Minolta which differed from average camera designs. In 1936 Minolta's first reflex camera appeared, the "Minolta-Flex" for 60x60mm film. One year later they began manufacturing own lenses. During the world war Minolta also produced cameras for aerial photography, which were used by the japanese air force. Minolta's first big innovation after the war was a quite little one, the first camera for their own 16mm miniature film format, the Konan-16. In 1957 Minolta began to produce planetariums, great optical machines which project all the visible stars of the night sky onto the ceilings of planetarium halls. In 1958 Minolta took the first step towards their success with SLR-cameras in the mid-80ies by introducing their first 35mm SLR-camera SR-2, which was the first one to combine several of the modern SLR-cameras' features like pentaprism viewfinder, smooth mirror mechanics, easily exchangeable lenses, easy film transport etc. In 1959 Minolta started to produce photocomposing machines, copiers, and special projectors. Parts of these businesses (like copiers) are kept up nowadays by Minolta's succeeding company Konica Minolta whilst it has given up photo business. Before the great times of the Maxxum/Dynax SLRs Minolta had another phase of cooperation with German experts, especially the cooperation with '''Leica in the mid-1970s. The Minolta XD-11 (same as XD-7) was the final result of this, the first 35mm SLR camera combining both automatic exposure modes, aperture priority and exposure time priority (=shutter priority). Many new Rokkor-lenses usable for both modes were produced for this exciting camera. The Dynax 7000 AF remains an iconic symbol of the 80's, however, Minolta did not hang on to their technological lead for long and Canikon fought to regain their position as market leaders. By the 90's Minolta was back to its former underdog-brand status. Minolta still offer a large line of products covering the gamut from the most basic to the most 'serious' of cameras. Among camera intelligentsia Minolta are known for their amazingly competitive price/performance ratio. What does that mean to you and I? When you buy a Minolta you get a lot of camera for your buck. Minolta continues to innovate. After popularizing the plastic bodied, push button controlled SLR with the 5/7/9000AF the mid-90's saw them reinventing the camera user interface with the 600si Classic. The Classic insignia indicates a move back to knobs and dials and away from buttons and menus. Photographers applauded this return to a logical control layout that didn't require them to memorize pages and pages from their camera's manual before they could take a shot. This interface was carried forward into their popular pro-level Maxxum/Dynax 7 and similar control layouts were adopted by other manufactures. With the DiMage X, Minolta solved the problem of the protruding optical zoom lens on pocket digicams. Their folded lens design alows an optical zoom lens to be totally contained within the body of the camera. This makes the cameras that use this design trully pocketable, faster to turn on and better protected from knocks and damage. Minolta have been criticized for their slowness to get onboard with a digital SLR camera that was compatible with the Maxxum lenses. In late November 2004, Konica Minolta finally released the much anticipated Maxxum 7D DSLR and the innovation continued. What sets the 7D DSLR apart from the competition is the built in image stabilization which works with any lens you can attach to the camera body. History has a way of repeating itself. If Minolta can compete better on image resolution and price point Minolta may at some point in the future, take the SLR market by storm yet again. In October 2003 Minolta merged with Konica to form Konica Minolta. All new cameras after that time were badged as Konica Minolta (see also Konica Minolta) although, with reference to their camera designs, Minolta remains the dominant partner. As of spring 2006, Konica-Minolta have withdrawn from the camera business entirely. The digital camera manufacturing assets have been acquired by Sony, but film camera production is ceasing. Digital DSLR * RD-175 * RD-3000 (for Vectis APS-SLR-lenses) newer cameras, see Konica Minolta (Dynax/Maxxum 5D and Dynax/Maxxum 7D) Fixed lens Minolta and Konica Minolta use the Dimage nameplate on all the fixed lens digital cameras. http://static.flickr.com/28/44563107_cd9217e31c_t.jpg * Minolta Dimage 7 * Minolta Dimage 7Hi * Minolta Dimage 7i * Minolta Dimage F300 * Minolta Dimage Xt * Minolta Dimage E323 newer cameras, see Konica Minolta 35mm film Autofocus SLR (Dynax/Maxxum) http://static.flickr.com/18/22827038_25e2d619d6_t.jpg The Dynax/Maxxum (Maxxum in North America, Dynax elsewhere) line of Cameras is an Autofocus line of SLR cameras. The cameras are not compatible with the previous manual focus SLR lenses. * Minolta Dynax 300si * Minolta Dynax 303si * Minolta Dynax 3xi * Minolta Dynax 4 * Minolta Dynax 40 * Minolta Dynax 404si * Minolta Dynax 5 * Minolta Dynax 5xi * Minolta Dynax 5000 * Minolta Dynax 5000i * Minolta Dynax 500si / Maxxum 400si * Minolta Dynax 500si Super / Maxxum 500si * Minolta Dynax 505si / Maxxum HTsi * Minolta Dynax 505si Super / Maxxum XTsi * Minolta Dynax 60 * Minolta Dynax 600si Classic * Minolta Dynax 650si * Minolta Dynax 7 * Minolta Dynax 7000 * Minolta Dynax 7000i * Minolta Dynax 700si * Minolta Dynax 7xi * Minolta Dynax 8000i * Minolta Dynax 800si * Minolta Dynax 9000 * Minolta Dynax 9 * Minolta Dynax 9xi * Minolta Dynax XTSi Manual Focus SLR http://static.flickr.com/34/71788872_328925c967_t.jpg * Minolta SR-2 * Minolta SR-1 * Minolta SR-1s * Minolta SR-3 * Minolta SR-7 * Minolta SR-M * Minolta ER * Minolta SRT 101 * Minolta SRT 100 * Minolta SRT Super (Japan), SRT 102 (USA), SRT 303 (Europe) * Minolta SRT MC * Minolta SRT SC * Minolta SRT 200 (USA), SRT 100b (Europe) * Minolta SR 101 (Japan), SRT 201 (USA), SRT 101b (Europe) * Minolta SR 505 (Japan), SRT 202 (USA), SRT 303b (Europe) * Minolta SRT 100X * Minolta SRT MCII * Minolta SRT SCII * Minolta X-1 (Japan), XK (USA), XM (Europe) * Minolta X-1 Motor (Japan), XK Motor (USA), XM Motor (Europe) * Minolta XE (Japan), XE-7 (USA), XE-1 (Europe) * Minolta XEb (Japan only) * Minolta XE-5 (USA and Europe) * Minolta XD (Japan), XD-11 (USA), XD-7 (Europe) * Minolta XD-s (Japan only) * Minolta XD-s Medical (Japan only) * Minolta XD-5 * Minolta XG-E (Japan), XG-7 (USA), XG-2 (Europe) * Minolta XG-1 * Minolta XG-S (Japan), XG-SE (USA), XG-9 (Europe) * Minolta X-70 (Japan), XG-M (USA, Europe) * Minolta XG-A (simplified XG-1) * Minolta X-700 * Minolta X-500 (Japan, Europe), X-570 (USA) * Minolta X-300 (Japan, Europe), X-370 (USA) * Minolta X-600 (Japan only) * Minolta X-370n (USA), Minolta X-370s (Europe) * Minolta X-9 * Minolta X-300s Rangefinder, interchangeable lens * Minolta 35 * Minolta 35 II * Minolta 35 IIB * Minolta Super A * Leitz Minolta CL * Minolta CLE Rangefinder, fixed lens * Minolta A * Minolta A2 * Minolta A2 LT * Minolta A3 * Minolta A5 * Minolta AL * Minolta AL2 * Minolta ALS * Minolta ALE * Minolta AL-F * Minolta 24 Rapid (16 24x24mm exposures on 35mm film) * Minolta Electro Shot * Minolta Hi-Matic 11 * Minolta Hi-Matic 7 * Minolta Hi-Matic 7s * Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII / Revue 400 SE * Minolta Hi-Matic 9 * Minolta Hi-Matic CS * Minolta Hi-Matic E * Minolta Hi-Matic ES * Minolta Hi-Matic F * Minolta Hi-Matic FP * Minolta HiMatic / Ansco Autoset * Minolta Minoltina AL-S * Minolta Minoltina-S * Minolta Uniomat / Ansco Anscoset * Minolta Uniomat II * Minolta Uniomat III / Ansco Anscoset III * Minolta V2 * Minolta V3 Viewfinder * Minolta Autowide * Minolta f12 * Minolta F35 Big Finder * Minolta Freedom I * Minolta FS-E II * Minolta Hi-Matic 5 * Minolta Hi-Matic C * Minolta Hi-Matic CSII * Minolta Hi-Matic G * Minolta Hi-Matic G2 * Minolta Hi-Matic GF * Minolta Hi-Matic S * Minolta Hi-Matic S2 * Minolta Hi-Matic SD * Minolta Hi-Matic SD2 * Minolta Memo * Minolta Minoltina-P * Minolta Repo (half-frame) * Minolta Repo-S (half-frame) compact cameras http://static.flickr.com/47/136586974_8942798975.jpg * HI-MATIC AF * HI-MATIC AF-2 * AF-DL / FREEDOM DL * WEATHERMATIC 35 DL * ZOOM 60 * RIVA ZOOM 75 w / FREEDOM ZOOM 75w * RIVA ZOOM 90 EX / FREEDOM ZOOM 90 EX * RIVA ZOOM 105i / FREEDOM ZOOM 105i * RIVA ZOOM 110 / FREEDOM ZOOM 110 * RIVA ZOOM 115 EX / FREEDOM ZOOM 115 EX * RIVA ZOOM 130 / FREEDOM ZOOM 130 * RIVA ZOOM 140 EX / FREEDOM ZOOM 140 EX * RIVA ZOOM 150 / FREEDOM ZOOM 150 and a lot more like that newer Minolta zoom cameras, see Konica Minolta APS film SLR * Vectis S-100 * Vectis S-1 compact cameras http://static.flickr.com/56/131472834_3b5be0f0fb.jpg * Vectis 300L * Vectis Weathermatic Zoom underwater camera * Vectis 2000 * Vectis 3000 120 film Folding * Arcadia * Auto Minolta * Auto Minolta I * Auto Press Minolta * Auto Semi Minolta * Auto Semi Minolta IIIA * Auto Semi Minolta P * Happy Hand * Happy Hand -- type S * Minolta * Minolta Best * Minolta Marble * Minolta Six * Nifca Dox * Nifca Klapp * Nifca Sport * Semi Minolta I * Semi Minolta II * Sirius TLR http://static.flickr.com/52/132057198_58b10f2aa8.jpg * Minolta Autocord * Minolta Autocord CDS I * Minolta Autocord CDS II * Minolta Autocord CDS III * Minolta Autocord I * Minolta Autocord II * Minolta Autocord III * Minolta Autocord L * Minolta Autocord MXS * Minolta Autocord MXV * Minolta Autocord RA * Minolta Autocord RB * Minolta Autocord RG * Minolta Autocord RI * Minolta Miniflex * Minoltacord * Minoltaflex * Minoltaflex Automat * Minoltaflex I * Minoltaflex II * Minoltaflex IIB * Minoltaflex III 127 film * Baby Minolta * Minolta Miniflex * Minolta Vest * Nifcalette * Minolta Autopak 800 * Revere 3M Automatic 1034 minolta 16mm film SLR * Minolta Auto-Zoom-X miniature camera * Minolta 16 * Minolta 16 Automat * Minolta 16 Cds * Minolta 16 EE * Minolta 16 EE2 * Minolta 16 II * Minolta 16 MG * Minolta 16 MGS * Minolta 16 P * Minolta 16 Ps * Minolta 16 QT * Minolta Sonocon 16 MB-ZA Disc film * Minolta ac 101 Courreges * Minolta ac 301 Courreges * Minolta Disc-5 * Minolta Disc-7 * Minolta Disc-S * Minolta Disc-K 110 film SLR * Minolta 110 Zoom SLR * Minolta 110 Zoom SLR Mark II pocket camera http://static.flickr.com/53/132049064_88d549355a.jpg * Pocket Autopak 200 * Pocket Autopak 250 * Pocket Autopak 270 * Pocket Autopak 430-E * Pocket Autopak 430-EX * Pocket Autopak 440-EX * Pocket Autopak 450-E * Pocket Autopak 450-EX * Pocket Autopak 460-T * Pocket Autopak 460-TX * Pocket Autopak 50 * Pocket Autopak 70 * Pocket Pak 40 * Pocket Pak 440-E * Pocket Pak 60 * Weathermatic A underwater camera 126 film * Minolta Autopak 400-X * Minolta Autopak 500 / Ilford Monarch / Revuematic 500 * Minolta Autopak 550 * Minolta Autopak 600-X * Minolta Autopak 700 * Minolta Autopak 800 Instant film * Minolta Instant Pro Links Camerapedia page of Minolta related links Category: Camera makers Category: Lens makers * Category: Japan